I've sometimes had trouble locating the London League site on Google (though of course there's a link from this blog). Never understood why, especially as normally it's perfectly simple, but then again what I know about search engines wouldn't fill a paragraph.

Anonymous said: "Strange post indeed. Quotation marks make no sense here. And yes, Google comes up with different results from different IPs."

A few comments on the above:1. Why do quotes make no sense? (I would have thought it *would* make sense, here, to look for an exact phrase.)2. Could you provide some sources to back up the assertion that Google comes up wih different results for different IPs? (I do know that the results of searches in China are liable to be filtered but is it generally so that results are IP-dependent? I'm not saying it isn't; I'd just like to know more... Search results will change over time, of course.)3. Would you care to declare your identity?

it's third. Using the singular rather than plural, the results are sixth with inverted commas and seventh without.

I think the problem, if problem it be, may lie in it being a new site (or having a new URL) each year. But to be honest I don't think it matters so much: by the time it's the 25th, it should come out on top.

I think anonymous is right that google does produce different results for different ips. I don't think this reflects a different weighting to the searches depending where you are; I think it's that google hubs (?) aren't synchronized.

In case it helps, a general note on the above from somebody who's a qualified librarian and for whom the search for information is therefore part of his professional training.

Information-searching, including websearches, isn't supposed to be about the skill of the searcher. Being skilled in that area is great, of course, and more than helpful, and sometimes important and necessary: but from the point of view of the person or body wishing their information to be located, it's necessary to assume its absence.

If you want people to find your site, you need to be aware that your public may not possess any skills in this area. They may use inverted commas, or they may not: they may think of trying championships, or they may not. If there's a serious danger that unskilled searches may make it harder for them to find your site, then potentially that's a problem. If there's an issue here (and as I say above, by the time the championship starts, I'm not convinced there will be) then that is it.

As far as quotation marks are concerned - I don't see why they make no sense. I'd be inclined to try both with and without, but I can't see why in principle they wouldn't apply.